Anbu: The Phoenix
by Shion Ameterasu
Summary: What would happen if Sarutobi didn't announce Naruto's Jinjuriki status? If he was adopted and was turned into an Anbu? An Assassin that will take the Ninja world to greatness! Smarter!Naruto Rinnegan!Naruto Anbu!Naruto Redhead!Naruto Girly-Looking!Naruto Quiet!Naruto I drew the Cover Image myself!
1. Academy アカデミー

Chapter 1: The Academy

The ANBU squad leader, Phoenix, was having a pleasant day. No one, no one had asked if he was female, not a single soul. As he patrolled the streets of Kohona, he noticed a small disturbance.

"Captain," the ANBU, Hydra spoke up, his face was covered in a blue Hydra mask, "the commotion is coming from over there." He pointed really far away to a huge dust cloud.

"Thank you, Hydra I'll head over there, you stay here." He replied as Hydra nodded, Phoenix jumped onto a rooftop and started running to the source of the dust cloud.

Once he arrived there he saw a group of men in an all-out brawl. One man was pushed out of the fight and was covered in wounds and bruises. Phoenix faced his direction.

"What happened?" He asked monotonously, the man looked at the ANBU and shakily said, "Some p-people s-started f-f-fighting and pu-pulled everyo-one in-into the f-fight..."

"Thank you." Turned to the direction of the fight the ANBU captain flared his chakra. "Stop." He said softly. Everyone stopped and looked in his direction, but immediately went back to their previous activities.

"Stop f*cking fighting!" He shouted, this time everyone stopped, for good.

"…Es..." He heard them say.

"What did you say?" He asked sweetly sending Killer Intent at them in large waves.

"YES MA'AM!" They shouted, fearfully, but only made the captain angrier.

"Who are you calling a girl?"

"Y-!" One _idiot _started but was silenced by the ninja's glare. "NO ONE!" They screamed dispersing. Huffing, he turned and teleported to Hydra, who was in the same position as he was before.

"Another group who though you were a girl, captain?" Hydra asked curiously.

"…Yes."

"I believe it's the hair, soft voice and the height..." Phoenix didn't bother commenting. It wasn't really his fault, just the ways genetics worked. But to him, he just didn't understand, they were ninja's, it was honourable to have long hair–even if he was wearing a wig over his bright hair. So it puzzled him that the rest of Kohona still believed his gender was female.

**_'Definitely the face!' _**An annoying little voice called the Kyuubi mocked.

'_Shut it, Kurama! They can't even see my face._'

* * *

><p>"Phoenix, report." 'Hokage-sama' ordered.<p>

"…At 1200 hours there was a street fight, at 1530 hours there was a fire but it was extinguished before any lasting damage was done, there was no casualties, just injuries. Nothing else major." Phoenix reported, he hated patrol, he was an assassin not a police man!

The Hokage sighed as he looked at the paper in his hands. "All ANBU except Phoenix, leave." Even though there was no visible change, Phoenix could sense the chakra of other ANBU leave the room. "Phoenix, take off your mask." The Hokage ordered.

Panic surged through the ANBU's body. The most common reason for the Hokage to ask an ANBU to take off their mask was a demotion, or a long-term mission. Neither that Phoenix wanted to do at the time.

Slowly, he resigned to his fate. Taking the white porcelain mask and black wig off, he hoped for the best.

Phoenix felt bare without his mask. As his face was unexpectedly feminine, he had a long history of people asking if he was a female, it certainly did not help that he had long red hair. Thankfully, his eyes were no longer the bright sapphire blue eyes were no longer the bright sapphire blue they once were and replaced with the legendary dojutsu, the Rinnegan, making him just a bit more… masculine. Or at least he hoped it did.

"Phoenix, I am giving you a top secret 'A' class mission."

"Hokage-sama, excuse me for my rudeness," Phoenix said, "but a 'top secret 'A' class mission'?"

The Hokage chuckled, "Yes, a 'top secret 'A' class mission,' but it has one serious flaw that only you can do." Phoenix held his breath hoping his superior wasn't going to say what he thought he was going to, "I need you not as the ANBU, Phoenix, but as Uzumaki Naruto."

Phoenix's, or rather _Naruto_'s whole world went crashing down. He couldn't remember the last time the Hokage had used his real name, "Permission to speak Hokage-sama?" He asked almost immediately.

"Granted." The old man said in the same speed, most likely anticipating the question.

"Hokage-sama I don't mean to be rude but I specialize on _assassination, _not_ infiltration_."

"I'm sorry but this is a direct order from the Hokage." He replied, making Naruto frustrated.

"Fine." He complied, seeing no way to get himself out of the ordeal without getting demoted.

"I need you to infiltrate the Academy."

"Eh?" Naruto exclaimed, out of all the things his active brain could think of, that was certainly not the top of his list.

"Yes. I need you to monitor the Academy teachers." The Hokage looked at his paperwork, "There are complaints about teachers and suspicions about them."

Naruto raised his hand.

"Yes?" The Hokage said, sighing slightly.

"How long will this mission be?"

"It is undecided." The Hokage said, sighing once more, "Here are the exact details of the mission. Academy classes start tomorrow. Dismissed."

Nodding, Naruto took the files in the Hokage's hands then teleported away to his apartment flat. Scanning the area for any fresh chakra signals he thought to himself, '_Nee-san isn't here yet._'

After a deep breath, he steeled himself with a plan to get ready for _school_. Concluding that his first priority was new clothes, preferably one that covered his face. He changed out of his ANBU gear into 'civilian' clothes.

He decided to wear a light blue shirt with the Uzumaki spiral on the back, black shorts and his Shinobi sandals. He set out to buy the new clothes he needed so much.

But he never saw the sad look that the Hokage gave him and his soft parting words. "_I'm sorry…_"

* * *

><p>He entered a nice looking shop and was astounded by the many articles of clothing. After ten minutes or so he chose a black mesh shirt, a dark camouflage jacket with a hood that could cover up his red hair and black shorts. Naruto took five sets of each and went to the counter.<p>

The shop keeper smiled sweetly at him, as one would to a young child. "That would be 12000 ryo." He silently nodded and gave the man the needed money.

"Have a nice day ojou! (Miss)" He called out, cheerfully.

"I'm not a girl..." Naruto deadpanned to the shopkeeper.

"What?" He asked shocked, "I'm so sorry!" He apologised, bowing his head repeatedly

"It's okay... Everyone makes that mistake..." The teen mumbled out, as the shopkeeper went back to original cheery personality, "Well then, have a good day!"

* * *

><p>TIMESKIP - NEXT MORNING<p>

* * *

><p>Naruto woke up a few seconds before his alarm clock could ring annoyingly, hitting the off switch swiftly.<p>

He then sleepily shuffled out of bed and had a quick shower. Once he was clean and awake, Naruto silently ate his home-made breakfast, cursing his luck as he did.

Before leaving he looked at the seals on his palms, he held his Kanata, 'Rebirth' in his two hands and activated the seal which stored the weapon inside and made sure his hood was covering his face.

* * *

><p>TIME SKIP - ACADEMY<p>

* * *

><p>"You are Uzumaki Naruto, correct?" A chunin asked as Naruto nodded. "I'm Umino Iruka, I'll be your teacher for the next year. Please follow me." I followed the Iruka-Sensei to a classroom door.<p>

"Be ready to introduce yourself." Naruto nodded as he followed him into the classroom.

Inside the classroom was chaos. There were fan-girls everywhere, lazy and really arrogant-looking people too.

**"EVERYONE SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN!" **Iruka-_sensei_ shouted and immediately everyone shut up and rushed to their seats. "There is a transfer student today, please welcome Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto, already deciding the best personality to portray, his real nature "...It is nice to meet you all... My name is Uzumaki Naruto..."

"DARN! ANOTHER GIRL!" A boy with triangles on his face, an Inuzuka, shouted groaning, effectively irritating Naruto to speak louder.

"I'm not a girl." Naruto said just loud enough for everyone to hear.

Everyone looked at him, looks of astonishment etched on their faces, "WHAT?" They shouted in unison.

"…I'm a boy." No one moved, so Naruto decided to move to the seat next to the Hyuuga girl in the back. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto..." He started, his voice no louder than a whisper, "What's your name?"

"H-H-H-Hyuuga H-H-Hinata..." She answered, she seemed to have a _very _bad case of shyness.

"It's nice to meet you." Naruto didn't bother smiling as his hood was pulled down too low for anyone to see his face. "Nice to meet you, Hyuuga-San… I hope we will get along…"

Naruto had just made his first friend. It was sad he didn't realise it yet.

* * *

><p>END!<p> 


	2. Classmates クラスメート

Chapter 2: Classes

For Naruto the rest of his classes for the day went smoothly, learning information he had already learnt, his desk mate was too shy to chat and most of all, no one asked questions about the hood.

Sadly, this did not last for a long time as at Lunch time the redhead was bombarded with questions such as, 'Why did you transfer so late?' And 'Why do you wear that hood?' And 'Are you sure you are not a girl?' Which Naruto snapped back with a big ugly **NO! **despite the personality he had decided to display.

"HEY YOU!" A boy shouted, judging from the markings on his cheeks he was an Inuzuka, Naruto glanced in his direction. "I challenge you to a taijutsu spar!" He declared, puffing out his chest proudly.

"Oi! Kiba! That's going too far!" Someone yelled from the crowd, "The newbie's gonna get thrashed!" Naruto shook his head as a sign of refusal, he watched as a vein popped out of the Inuzuka's head.

"You're just too cowardly! Girly!"

Naruto's anger flared up dangerously, making the seal on Kurama open slightly, "**Shut up.**" It had become too stressful for Naruto and some of the Kyuubi's ominous chakra seeped out, creating a dark aura surrounding him. He liked it better in ANBU, everyone was formal and straight to the point.

He laughed, then mocked, "Girly scared? Everyone knows I'm the best at taijutsu, shorty." Naruto snapped.

"Fine." He spat, "I accept your challenge. What are your terms?" Naruto slowly breathed in and out in an attempt to calm himself, which worked fairly well and he reeled in the dark bijuu chakra.

"First to yield, no ninjutsu, genjutsu or weapons." Kiba smirked thinking it would be an easy win against someone who looked so frail.

Then got into a sloppy stance, but before he could hit the blond a boy lazily spoke out, "How troublesome. Kiba, take it outside."

The Inuzuka growled and said to me, "Follow me outside!" He then opened the window and jumped out, everyone else followed.

* * *

><p>Once they were outside they distanced theirselves and Kiba pulled out a 100 yen coin.<p>

"Once this coin hits the ground, we begin. It ends when the opponent is knocked out, surrenders or can't fight." He turned back to the classroom, looking at the boy who spoke previously. "Shikamaru, referee." Inuzuka said as he moved back into his sloppy stance and tossed the coin to Shikamaru, who grumbled and climbed through the window.

"This is troublesome." Shikamaru said and he tossed the coin into the air.

Naruto looked at Kiba with an angry gleam in his eyes barely suppressing the red that was about to emerge from his purple Rinnegan. He waited for the coin to hit the ground and put my hands in his pockets.

As soon as the coin touched the ground Inuzuka said, "Ladies first!" mocking me.

Naruto jumped into action faster than anyone could see and hit Inuzuka on the neck, which knocked him out, then stood placing his hands back into his pockets.

Shikamaru, who was probably a Nara, walked over to Inuzuka and crouched down to inspect him. After a few seconds he stood up and turned.

"Troublesome, Uzumaki Naruto won." Shikamaru said, and then he walked away as if he already knew something bad was going to happen. The crowd was silent and then started clapping and cheering until a loud voice said, "EVERYONE TIME FOR CLASS!" It was Iruka-Sensei with his big-headed Jutsu.

My classmates ran through the door into the classroom while I grabbed Inuzuka and jumped through the window and into the classroom.

He was glad. Even though his taijutsu was actually very bad, only on a chunin's level, his superior speed helped him finish the battle. Many of his colleagues had told him he was as fast as the fourth Hokage and if he learnt the Hirashin he'd be 'Kohona's Red Flash.'

'_Damn, I didn't eat lunch_.' Naruto thought as his stomach grumbled.

'**_Heh, that's your own damn fault, kit._**' Kurama mocked.

'_Dammit, go back to sleep you overgrown fur-ball!_'

* * *

><p>TIMESKIP: AFTERSCHOOL<p>

* * *

><p>Naruto was walking home from a long and boring day at <em>school<em>. A boy wearing the Uchiha crest blocked his path. Uchiha Sasuke, the whole reason why Naruto ended up in this mess in the first place.

"I challenge you to a Ninjutsu spar." He said, speaking for the first time.

"No." Naruto said, fed up with fighting with brats, even though he knew he was younger than them.

"FIGHT ME!" He demanded angrily, showing the most emotion Naruto had seen so far.

"…Why should I?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Because," He started smugly, "I'm the last Uchiha, so I am elite!" He boasted. Naruto stared at him as if he was crazy, "…No." He seemed become frustrated and tried a different approach. "Too scared then, girly?" He taunted, remembering Naruto's fight with Kiba.

"What did you say?" The ANBU asked getting angrier, his voice rose slightly, letting his chakra leak out unintentionally.

"I said, 'Too scared then, girly'." He said smugly thinking Naruto would rashly challenge him like he did to Inuzuka Kiba.

Naruto calmed himself down, knowing that he had done enough chaos for one day. "Mind your own business, Uchiha." With that he walked away to the Hokage Tower.

Knowing the Hokage wouldn't mind, Naruto leaped onto the roof of the Tower and went into the office via the window

"Gah! Oh, Naruto." He said surprised, then motioning to the ANBU he ordered, "All ANBU, except Phoenix, you are dismissed."  
>All the chakra signals of the ANBU, except Naruto, disappeared, "Now, Phoenix, report."<p>

Naruto proceeded to tell him all the important events that happened today going straight to the point, which was basically, 'The kids are brats and the information isn't enough.'

"Phoenix, I suggest making bonds with your classmates. It will make your mission easier, dismissed." Naruto groaned, socializing with brats was not his thing.

"…Hai, Hokage-sama." He then took off, not bothering to say he had already made friends with someone.

'_I'm sorry Naruto… but this will be your last mission…_'

* * *

><p><strong>AT ICHIRAKU RAMEN<strong>

* * *

><p>He enter the Ramen stand, the smells were very familiar, and he had been here before! He saw the two people attending the counter, Ayame and Teuchi.<p>

"Welcome to-!" The girl's eyes widened, "A…are you Naruto?" She asked slowly, afraid she was wrong.

"Yes… it's me, Naruto." Naruto assured quietly, "I'm amazed you recognized me underneath this hood, Ayame-nee-san."

"So I'm guessing one miso ramen coming up?" The boy nodded and sat in silence before someone joined him, a familiar Hyuuga girl, the one who he sat next to in class.

Ayame came back recognized her, Naruto assumed she was a regular. "Hello, Hinata-chan would you like the usual?" Hinata nodded in agreement. Once again Naruto was met with dead silence.

"H-he-hello, U-uzumaki-san" She stuttered softly breaking the silence.

"…Hello," Naruto greeted gently, she looked down and started fidgeting, poking her index fingers together.

"I... I'm H-Hyuuga H-hina-Hinata..." She whispered, introducing herself for the second time.

"…I know that you told me the first time." Hinata blushed bright red, "…But, it's nice to meet you…Hyuuga-San."

"Y-you t-t-too..." She fidgeted. "U-Uzumaki-San..."

"…You can call me Naruto."

"Y-y-you c-can c-call m-m-me H-h-Hinata..." She blushed.

"Um… okay then Hinata-chan…" Her blush deepened hearing the ending.

She nodded, "Y-yeah... N-Naruto-kun..."

"Two miso ramen!" Ayame chimed, putting down a bowl each in front of the duo.

"…Thank you." They both mumbled in sync.

* * *

><p><strong>END<strong>

* * *

><p>I don't know if it's going to be romance. They're just friends. Just friends.<p>

I'll start a poll for pairings. So please review! Don't forget, _No YAOI!_


	3. First Test 最初のテスト

Chapter 3: First Test

Naruto woke up right before his alarm rang smashing his hand onto it, effectively destroying the device. In the past 2 years he had made 'connections' with his 'classmates' like Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, Uchiha Sasuke, Inuzuka Kiba and the Ino-Shika-Cho group. Basically all the people with potential to become aspiring shinobi in the future.

The graduation day, or the first test was scheduled for today and Naruto was not intending to miss it. A ninjutsu test, which consisted of a Henge and a Bunshin. He knew for a fact the only people who'd pass the second test is probably just the clan heirs.

He quickly got dressed and ate. Then proceeded to wake up his tenant, Kurama.

_'Kurama_…' He said mentally, _'Wake up_!'

'***_Snore_***' He answered, making Naruto angry.

_'WAKE UP_!' He shouted, trying again this time louder.

**_'I'm up_****!**' He said, _'**Damn Kit**_**.**' He started muttering a string of curses, giving Naruto a minor migraine.

'_Don't be so rude. You're the one who wanted me to wake you up_.'

He simply grumbled in response.

* * *

><p><strong>AT CLASS<strong>

* * *

><p>"Now for the graduation exam, you will do the Henge and Bunshin no Justu when you are called to the next room." Iruka-sensei<p>

Naruto waited for Iruka-Sensei to call out his name, but his peace and quiet was rudely interrupted by the Uchiha heir. "Fight me!" He shouted.

"How about..." Naruto trailed off, "Never." Uchiha seemed enraged by his answer and threw a punch at my face.

He smoothly caught his hand and the Uchiha looked angrier, then he tried again. Narutp dodged the sloppy punch. Unfortunately, the redhead had not fought many times with a hood on before and Uchiha his hood off. The hood that always shadowed his face and hair.

"You..." He trailed off looking at Naruto with a shocked expression.

"What?" Naruto snapped, he didn't get what the big deal was, he just dodged it wasn't like he did a double back flip.

"You're... Really... **A GIRL**!?" He shouted loud enough for the whole world to hear him.

"…Hah?" Naruto looked at him weirdly, not sure how he reached that conclusion, "…I'm pretty sure I am male."

While Naruto may have looked calm on the outside he was freaking out on the inside, '_I hope they don't notice my eyes...'_

"But you look like one!" He argued. "Naruto... You're a girl?! Although, that red hair looks cool. Is that natural?" Chouji shouted, from behind the two genin.

"I'm not a girl." Naruto said firmly. "…And it is natural" Chouji was talking about the trademark red hair that all Uzumaki members receive. Although he was pretty sure that the Senju's were exempt from that undeclared rule. He pulled up his hood as fast as he could when he realised people were staring.

"Uzumaki's right. My kikkaku can feel he's male." Aburame Shino pointed out, his high hood covered his face and Naruto swore he saw a bug crawl across his face.

"…Thank you, Shino." Naruto said gratefully, happy that someone could tell the difference.

He simply nodded as a sign of acknowledgement. "Though, Naruto, you could really pass for a girl!" Chouji commented, happily munching on his packet of chips.

"…That's rude."

"How troublesome. Naruto you could pass for a girl anytime." Shikamaru said, putting his own opinion into the conversation, which was really surprising as he hated to do anything.

_'The whole world is against me._' Naruto thought depressingly, then heard that familiar mocking voice ringing in his head.

**'At least you don't look ugly.**'

_'..Thanks Kyu_!' Naruto thought back sarcastically, but his prisoner had more to say.

**'As a girl!**' Kurama started laughing his head off, giving the redhead another migraine.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" Iruka-Sensei called out, making Naruto walk over to the next class room.

* * *

><p>"Naruto, do a henge Jutsu of a Hokage." Iruka-Sensei said, looking at me, he nodded and formed a tiger sign.<p>

"HENGE!" Naruto said pumping his chakra and transforming himself into the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato.

"Great detail!" Iruka-Sensei said inspecting my transformation. "You can turn back now." Naruto released the jutsu.

"Okay, now do the Bunshin no jutsu."

"Bunshin no Jutsu!" He shouted and five perfect clones of Naruto were beside him, but in reality, each was a Kage Bunshin, a shadow clone. Seeing as he had too much Chakra, even with the control the Rinnegan gave him, simple clones were just much effort.

"Excellent, Naruto! You not only performed a perfect Henge Jutsu, but also a perfect bunshin. You pass!" Iruka-Sensei said scribbling some comments on his evaluation paper.

"Please choose a headband." Iruka-Sensei said pointing to the table with headbands with different coloured cloths. Naruto chose a dark red one that matched his hair and tied it around his neck.

"…Thank you, Iruka-Sensei."

"Wait in the other classroom for the announcement at the end." He told Naruto who nodded and walked back to the other classroom.

* * *

><p>"Naruto... You passed. Congratulations..." Hinata said. During the year she lost her stuttering problem with people familiar to her. She was just... Really quiet, kind of like Naruto himself.<p>

"Thanks Hinata." He said, "Congratulations on passing, to you too." He noticed the blue forehead protector strapped around her neck, just like his.

"Oi!" Uchiha's voice shouted, "So you did pass, girly." Naruto noticed his new nickname and was quick to hiss back.

"Don't call me that," He hissed, my previous tone gone from my voice, "Sasu–gay!" It kind of was true as Sasuke was probably traumatized by all the fan girls.

"How... Dare you... How dare you call me that abdominal nickname?!" He gritted out, he looked like he wanted murder Naruto in cold blood. But before he could try, Iruka-Sensei came into the classroom and said, "Everyone back to your seats."

Sasuke and Naruto complied, the former glaring at the latter and both moved to their seats. Unfortunately, Iruka-Sensei had to shout at the remaining part of the class that refused to obey.

"I am all proud of you," Iruka-Sensei started, "Not a single person failed and now all of you are ninja's of Kohona." He smiled. "Please meet me here tomorrow at 9:30 for you team placements. Dismissed!" Almost everyone ran out of the classroom whooping out in joy.

* * *

><p><strong>NEXT DAY<strong>

"Oi! Shut up!" Iruka-Sensei shouted, using the Big Head Jutsu which effectively shut everyone up.

**Skipping to team 7~**

"Team 7, Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Hinata and Nara Shikamaru." Iruka-Sensei recited.

_'So they finally decided to get rid of the old Ino-Shika-Cho_.' Naruto thought grinning under his hood, '_Thank god I didn't get a fangirl... although Ino's better than most of them.'_

"Your teacher will be Mitarashi Anko."

_'I take that back, not Nee-san!_' He whimpered, his original happiness was replaced with dread.

**_'Kit, you're cursed_****!'** Kurama managed to say, while making strange noises that resembled laughs.

_'Shut up!_'

He just continued laughing.

"Team 8 is Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke," A pink haired girl started shouting in happiness, but Sasuke looked moodier than usual, "And Inuzuka Kiba." The pink-girl's face fell and Kiba was shouting in anger. Naruto chuckled softly, "Your teacher is Hatake Kakashi."

_'Ooh, are they even going to pass?_' Naruto asked, '_Kakashi-nii-san never passes anyone!'_

**_'Yeah, but he might be forced to pass them by the council_****.'** Kurama butt in and both the fox and Naruto started grimacing.

"Team 9 is still in circulation, so Team 10 is Yamanaki Ino, Akimichi Choji and Aburame Shino. That's all! Please wait here for your teachers." Iruka-Sensei left the room. Leaving us to wonder about our teachers and complain about teammates. '

'_Still, why Nee-san?'_

* * *

><p><strong>I'm now doing a poll for Character pairings!<strong>

**But no cradle snatching, incest, OCs or Tayuya from the sound four, I hate her. I made Mitarashi Anko the teacher 'cuz I asked my cousin, "What do you prefer? Old-looking pervert or crazy snake lady?" **

**She said, "…Crazy Snake Lady?"**

**Poll:**

**Hinata: III**

**Ino: I**


	4. Second Test Survival Training? 第二の試験サ

Chapter 4: Second Test

A large black blur shaped like a ball came hurling into the classroom from the window, shattering it. High-pitched screams filled Naruto's ears, he couldn't help but think that all Kunoichi except Hinata were doomed.

From the ball four kunai shot out and struck the walls revealing a person and a banner.

"Introducing Team Seven's Mitarashi Anko?" Someone yelled out, reading the black banner and Naruto could only groan, as his eyes focused on the woman.

"Alright! Come on Team 7, let's go!" The woman had dark hair and eyes without pupils. Her clothes were very, revealing as most of her body was covered in a mesh body suit but she held some decency as she wore a tan trench coat over it.

Naruto grudgingly stood up and followed the crazy lady who adopted him with both Shikamaru and Hinata trailing close behind.

They walked through the streets of Konoha, while passing glaring civilians. Naruto could hear some of the conversations that they had.

"–snake bitch!"

"I heard that she is a disciple of the traitor Orochimaru and is–"

"–She should die!"

Naruto couldn't bear to listen anymore as with every passing comment his control over his anger slipped more and more.

Finally after minutes of walking and silence, the ninja's arrived at a large overgrown forest surrounded by metal gates each with signs saying, 'Training Group 44,' 'Keep out!' and 'Danger ahead!'

Just in front of the entrance there were a few logs positioned to look like a small campfire and Anko sat on one and gestured for the rest to join her.

"So, I'm Mitarashi Anko and I _may _be your Sensei for the rest of your genin lives!" She chirped happily, "Now, onwards to the introductions!" Her brown eyes zeroed onto Naruto and she said, "You! Go first!"

Naruto was completely expecting that so he started, "…My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like training, my elder sister and fuinjutsu. I dislike traitors, idiots and fangirls. My hobbies include training, studying fuinjutsu and sleeping. My dream in the future is to surpass my parents."

"Alright!" Anko said, she then pointed at Hinata who involuntarily flinched, "You!"

"…Um… M-my name is Hyuuga Hinata, I like my family, flower pressing, cinnamon buns…" She mumbled something as she turned bright red, "I dislike the Hyuuga Caged Bird seal and the Elders… For Hobbies I like to train with Hanabi… and take walks in the forest… My dream is…" Hinata's voice rose and an aura of confidence surrounded her, "My dream is to get rid of the Cage Bird Seal and change the Hyuuga Clan."

Anko smiled–really she grinned–"Alright then, and you?" She looked at Shikamaru who was yawning loudly.

"How troublesome… My name's Nara Shikamaru I like sleeping and cloud watching, I dislike anything troublesome, like troublesome blondes. My hobbies are napping and playing Shogi against Asuma-san." He took a deep breath and a look of complete seriousness was plastered on his face, "My dream is to marry a regular girl who isn't too ugly and not too pretty. Have two children, first a girl, then a boy. Retire after my daughter is married and my son becomes a successful ninja, and spend the rest of my life playing shōgi or Go. Then die of old age before my wife."

Everyone was taken aback by the long and detailed explanation.

"…Okay then!" Anko said, clapping her hands together, "My name's Mitarashi Anko, I like Dango and my little brother, I dislike Orochimaru and stupid villagers. My hobbies are training and eating dango. My dream is to someday fight against Orochimaru and defeat him."

She then stood up and pointed at the three kids, "Now, before all you celebrate I have to break it to you!" She paused dramatically, "There is a second test!"

"…We know…" The three genin chorused, totally in sync.

"WHAT!?" Anko shouted, shocking Hinata who nearly jumped up and ran, "How!?"

"It's obvious." Shikamaru deadpanned, "The first test is for weeding out the incompetent students and the second is for teamwork."

"…I agree." Naruto spoke, "The second test is about teamwork." Hinata nodded.

"…Well then." Anko reached into her jacket and tossed out two silver bells, "I suppose there is no need for these then."

Naruto just looked at her in disbelief, he knew she was crazy, eccentric and weird but he didn't think she had gone so insane that she was going to disregard the mandatory test.

"So! Survival Training!" Anko smiled sadistically, "Now I know that technically the Forest of Death is only used for Genin in rare occasions, but~! I bet you three will be just fine!"

She made it seem like the Forest of Death was going to be a simple walk in the park, like there was absolutely no danger. Like she expected them to be able to do it in their sleep!

"Anko-sensei…" Naruto felt weird calling her this, "…Survival training now? But we aren't prepared."

Anko waved her hand dismissively, "Don't worry, you'll be fine! I'll watch you until tomorrow!" Naruto could feel his stomach drop at that comment, he may be ANBU but his specialty was assassination, not surviving.

Most ANBU could do a whole range of jutsu and knew how to survive by themselves, Naruto only knew how to operate his bloodline, basic jutsu, kenjutsu and fuinjutsu because he couldn't learn any of the specialized moves of his sister. The only reason why he survived during ANBU was because Kurama helped him most of the way.

"Okay, are you ready?" Anko-chirped, then grabbed all three genin by their collars, "Let's go!" She moved closer to the forest and once she was near enough to the fence she jumped up onto it. Then she chucked all three of them into the area, only Naruto was able to land with practiced ease.

"Ow… Troublesome woman." Shikamaru muttered, "I take that back about blondes, all women are troublesome."

"…I don't think Anko-sensei meant to be rude…" Hinata started poking her fingers together shyly.

"Be quiet." Naruto could hear the faint footsteps of some creature, thankfully they seemed to get softer and softer, "It's gone…"

"W-what was it Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, slightly stuttering.

"I don't know." Naruto never had the misfortune of ending up in training ground 44, he wasn't sure of the danger that was ahead. "…But I suppose we should start looking for… supplies?" He asked hesitantly, never had he gone camping without any notice and Naruto cursed himself for not being cautious enough. He had grown soft after going to that laid-back academy but he did have _that_ if the worst came.

He doubted that mission to watch over Uchiha Sasuke was even real, just a ploy to get Naruto into the stupid academy and make not-so-stupid friends.

"Naruto-kun?" The redhead looked up and noticed that Hinata and Shikamaru were already ahead and he walked faster to keep up with them.

"Sorry…" Naruto muttered, "I was lost in thought."

* * *

><p>It was nightfall and Naruto was glad that he wasn't alone. He surely would have struggled without Hinata's eyesight and Shikamaru's knowledge of poisonous plants–though Shikamaru was the bottom of the class.<p>

They had encountered a lot, huge plants, animals and a carnivorous _GIANT CENTIPEDE! _Thankfully they had escaped from the disgusting insect.

They had made a small camp near a river, a broken looking wooden bridge ran across it providing a path over the waters.

Naruto was currently roasting three rabbits his teammates had caught over an open fire, contemplating his current situation.

* * *

><p>FLASHBACK – EIGHT YEARS AGO<p>

* * *

><p><em>Naruto was waiting patiently for his new parent to arrive, he was overjoyed, most people refused to have a son that looked like a girl, but this Mitarashi Anko didn't care! At least he thought so, he didn't think he had met this person before.<em>

_"__Now, Naruto-kun you have to be a good girl." The caretaker said, patting Naruto's hair–Naruto really hated her, she acted as thought he was a girl! She told his to wear girl's clothes, use 'watashi' (I Fem.) instead of 'ore' (I Crude) or 'boku,' (I Mas.) cook, clean and so much more._

_He truly wondered if she was blind, because despite his feminine exterior_–_and secret love for cooking and drawing_–_Naruto was 100% male!_

_But Naruto had managed to take some of the clothes from the boys who left the orphanage so he was wearing gender neutral clothes. A bright yellow short-sleeved shirt, white shorts and dark sandals._

_"__Thank you for taking care of me." Naruto had to stop the sarcasm from slipping out of his four year old mouth._

_The doorbell rang and the caretaker left to go open the door to receive Naruto's new guardian. Naruto trailed behind her, holding his red suitcase, he was curious and wanted to know how his adopter looked like._

_He was shocked to see a sixteen year old girl wearing a dark red shirt and white shorts to be standing at the door. "I'm here for Uzumaki Naruto!" She chimed out._

_But Naruto recognised her voice, it was the same girl who he defended after hearing someone call her a 'snake bitch.' While he wasn't sure about the second part, being called a snake was very rude. Although this 'defending' had become attack once the man called Naruto a stupid red tomato._

_"__Are…" Naruto started, "Are you Mitarashi Anko?"_

_The girl smiled knowingly._

* * *

><p><em>FOREST OF DEATH<em>

* * *

><p>"Naruto-kun." Hinata called, "Is dinner ready?" Her dark hair was wet and she had discarded her jacket.<p>

Naruto looked at the rabbits, "It looks ready… Shikamaru?"

"Here." A drawl came from the opposite direction, "I got more wood."

Rather than wood it looked more like twigs but Naruto didn't care, he instructed Shikamaru to have half in the fire and the other half as backup.

Once they sat down on the ground, Naruto handed a rabbit to his teammate each. They all said, "Itadakimasu!" then started to eat.

"…This is amazing." Hinata whispered, looking at Naruto with wide lavender eyes, "How did you cook this?!" He once soft voice became loud and Shikamaru joined in the conversation.

"I agree, this isn't something any once could make." Naruto felt his face flush and was eternally grateful for his hood.

"…It's nothing. I just added herbs to it."

"You-!"

**_BOOM!_**

"…What was that…?" Naruto slowly rose up, setting down his half eaten dinner and drew a sharp kunai from his pouch.

The whole forest was silent except for the soft rustling of leaves, it was strange.

**_BOOM! BOOM!_**

Naruto could feel fear creep up at the thought of something unknown.

**_BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!_**

**_RRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!_**

A gigantic tiger emerged from the trees, growling viscously at the trio. Hinata let out a small whimper and from the corner of his eyes Naruto could see small tears.

"…Move into the trees on my command." Naruto said firmly using every bit of authority he had, warily watching the orange stripped beast edge closer.

Its loud footsteps reverberated through the silence, it was nearly a leap away from the makeshift camp.

"SCATTER!" Naruto yelled and all three genin leapt into the large trees, Naruto almost thought his plan failed because he was unsure if his teammate knew of tree walking but they all seemed to climb up the trees and he thanked what every god or gods that existed that both were clan heirs and were most likely taught by their parents.

Naruto calmed down when he reached some of the low branches, and watched in amusement as the over grown cat began clawing at the tree. Because cats couldn't climb trees, could they?

It seems that Naruto was wrong as the tiger started pulling itself up the tree and in panic he leapt over to Hinata who was trembling on another tree's branch.

"…Are you okay?" He asked and nearly slapped his head, she was obviously not okay. Not with all that quivering.

He had not noticed Shikamaru join them, "…As troublesome as it is, please leave making plans to me, that was stupid."

"…I know." Naruto muttered, "…So what's the plan?"

There was a pregnant silence. "We run." He pointed to a tall red building that none had seen before, "Over there should be safe."

Naruto decided to trust him as he had no ideas what to do slowly coaxing Hinata to stand he unzipped his hoodie and wrapped it around her shivering body, his waist-long red hair fluttered in the wind carelessly. He carefully covered his eyes in a genjutsu making them look normal without the rings and a white sclera.

"…Thank you." Hinata said, standing up. Naruto smiled, and offered a hand to pull her up.

"Let's go." He grabbed Hinata's wrist and started leaping from branch to branch with ease, the tiger had stayed, and it was circling the makeshift camp growling and hissing.

Then the rain started, it poured down heavily on the trio and by the time they had reached the tall red building, they were soaked. They collapsed on the floor, all adrenaline had disappeared from their systems.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata was shaking and pointing at Naruto's arms. He was staring at her weirdly, hoping that she didn't see his ANBU tattoo. "There are l-l-leeches!"

Naruto looked at his arms and sow the parasites sucking greedily on his arm and he felt disgusted, not only did they feel like slugs, they were swelling up to the size of a hilt of a standard Kunai.

"Sorry!" Hinata cried, "This is all my fault, b-because I left m-my j-jacket a-and y-you gave me yours…"

"It's fine." Naruto said, "Does anyone have salt?"

"Salt is bad for leeches…" Hinata murmured, "…T-try… um…" She carefully looked at the leech and located its sucker using her fairly long nail she dug it underneath the leech and wrenched it off. "Um… I-it might b-bleed for a few hours s-so just wrap it in some spare bandages or cloths…"

Naruto didn't even move, he just watched as the wound slowly closed up and both Hinata and Shikamaru were staring at it with wide eyes.

"H-how?"

"Genetics." Naruto said simply, "Do I have any others?"

"Wait… I'll check." Hinata said looking over Naruto's body, "No…"

Naruto turned to Hinata and smiled, "Thank you… You're going to be a great doctor someday."

Hinata flushed and looked down and started muttering incoherent words and Shikamaru snickered, "…Looks like a girl…"

"Oi!" Naruto shouted, his anger flared.

'**_Kit, Shut up_****.**' Kurama's sleepy voice resounded through Naruto's head and he scowled.

'_Why weren't you awake when I needed you?'_ Naruto asked mentally, '_I nearly died!_'

'**_You wouldn't have. Your instant regenerative powers would have healed you._**'

"…Did anyone leave anything important?"

Naruto mused for a bit, "Let me just check." He took out a small scroll from his weapon pouch and opened it slightly. He looked at Shikamaru who was lying down horizontally away from it. "Shikamaru, move."

"Why? Moving is troublesome."

Naruto had enough so he held one side of the scroll and took the other and threw it in Shikamaru's direction, feeling satisfied as it hit its target.

"OW!" Shikamaru exclaimed, plucking the open scroll off from him and giving Naruto a dirty look, "That hurts!" He then muttered, "…you hit as hard as a woman…"

"Shut up." Naruto said, as he was preoccupied with the long scroll filled with fuinjutsu seals.

"W-what's this Naruto-kun?" Hinata's stutter had become less and less as she calmed down.

"It's a storage scroll, I made it myself." He heard gasps of disbelief around him.

"Y-you made it?! B-but fuinjutsu i-is incredibly hard to learn w-without proper guidance a-and the on-only seal m-master l-left f-from Konoha is J-jiraya-san!" Hinata exclaimed, he voice rose with every word.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "…It runs in my blood?" He said quietly, "Nope, don't think I've left anything."

"…How troublesome…" Shikamaru muttered.

"What? did you leave something?"

"…My food." Naruto hit his head with his palm.

"Do you want to fight that overgrown cat?"

"…Food." Hinata joined in.

"It's already night!" Naruto shouted he looked at his scroll and rolled it back up, "Come on, there should be some beds here."

The trio searched the building for a few minutes until they came to an infirmary with plenty of white beds. Naruto hated it instantly, it reminded him of the _hospital!_

'**_You will never like them will you?_**' Kurama snickered.

'_Shut up, I'm trying to sleep._'

Unfortunately for Naruto, his sleep was full of old memories.

* * *

><p>Flashback – Seven Years Ago<p>

* * *

><p><em>Naruto felt fear grip his heart as he was cornered by the foul smelling man. Said man had dark brown hair and his eyes were sunken and red, he staggered left and right, holding a cracked beer bottle. "He', littl' lady!" He slurred. "Wanna come ta my house for a bit?"<em>

_Naruto regretted leaving his adopted sister's house without permission, even though it was his birthday. He had used every bit of stealth he had to sneak off without the masked people following, covering his bright hair with a hood._

_The man reached out with a shaky hand, intending to grab Naruto but instead knocked off his hood and revealed his shoulder-length red hair. "K-Kyuubi!" He screeched, making Naruto confused. The Kyuubi had died five years prior._

_"__You damn bastard!" The man raised his bottle and swung down to strike, "You didn't die when the Yondaime tried to finish you off!"_

_The glass his Naruto's face and shattered, Naruto screamed in pain, yelling over and over. The fireworks had begun and no one could hear his agony._

_"__You-!" The man kicked Naruto in his stomach making his collide with the brick wall behind him, "-Demon! I'll finish what the Yondaime started!"_

_Pain flared though Naruto's back, stomach and face as he started bleeding, blood was forced through his throat and was spat out._

_"__I'll kill you bastard!" The man now held a knife that gleamed ominously in the light of the fireworks. He held it high above his head and stabbed it down aiming for Naruto's heart._

_'__**You can't die now kit!**__' A voice roared in Naruto's head, and time seemed to stop. The man was now frozen in his spot, Naruto slowly moved up and uttered unfamiliar words._

"**Shinra Tensei**."

* * *

><p>END!<p>

**To answer anybody's question about the 'Girly' part, I kinda added that for Lols cuz I like Gender bends and Cross-dressing so Naruto has some girly aspects, like liking cooking, drawing, hating perverts, being good at cleaning, being forced in dresses. But he is straight or maybe bi-sexual if I really want (But then I'll make him a real girl), so he just _looks _like a girl. If you really want to put in simpler terms, he looks like his mother with the Rinnegan and spiky hair.**

**Actually, now thinking about it, I may do a Fem!Naruto version of this later in the future. BUT PAIRING MUST BE GAARAXNARUTO! ...Or Shikamaru.**

**Poll**

**Hinata: IIII**

**Ino: III**

**Fem! Haku: I**


	5. Taming the Animal 動物を飼いならします

Chapter 5: Taming the Animal

Naruto woke up to the blinding sun in his eyes, he rolled out of the infirmary bed and fell onto the cold floor.

Moving slowly he search for the bathroom where he retrieved his toothbrush from his storage seal–he's got heaps in there–and started to slowly brush.

'…_Kurama… Wake up…_' He called mentally.

'**_*Snore*_**' Was Naruto's answer and he sighed, as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were drawn to his messy red hair that stuck up in every direction then to his ringed purple eyes without sclera. He noted the faint whisker marks on his cheeks and traced them lightly with his free hand.

He looked to his left arm to make sure the bandages he put to cover up his ANBU tattoo was still covered by the bandages he added just in case his teammates saw it through his mesh shirt.

He casted a weak genjutsu over his eyes, watching as they rings disappeared and the sclera turned white. '_I really need to learn how to deactivate it…_'

Naruto chose to explore the building a bit more and arrived at some sort of training ground. It had two viewing platforms on both sides raise up from the ground and in the centre of the wall there were two huge hands put together to make the ram sign. As he had nothing to do he decided it was best if he practiced Kenjutsu with Rebirth.

He looked at the two uncompleted seals tattooed into the palms of his hands and formed the tiger seal.

A large sword, almost half his size, appeared strapped to his back. He raised a hand to grab the red and god hilt, drawing the sword. The sword's dark metal gleamed red in the faint rays of sunlight, giving it an ethereal yet ominous gleam.

"Hōō no Fukkatsu…" Naruto breathed.

'**_Really? You named that Rebirth of the Phoenix_****?**' A drowsy familiar voice drone and Naruto flushed red.

'_I did not name it this! This was an Uzumaki Heirloom!_' Naruto shouted back at his tenant, '_This is what started the whole mythical creature masks in ANBU_…' Naruto felt his chest constricting.

"…No… It was you Kurama…" An old memory resurfaced.

* * *

><p>FLASHBACK – SEVEN YEARS AGO<p>

* * *

><p><em>"<em>_Naru-kun you have to stay here okay." Pupiless eyes stared into Naruto's ringed eyes and Naruto hugged his red wolf stuffed toy closer to him._

_"…__I…" He stared at his feet, suddenly fascinated by the glowing chakra points he had seen since his birthday, last month. Naruto looked back at his adopted sister, "I will…"_

_"__Promise?" Anko-nee-san said, holding out her pinkie._

_"…__promise…" Naruto took the pinkie with his own and Anko smiled and ruffled his hair. _

_"__I'll be back in a week." She then hugged Naruto, "…I'll miss you…"_

_Tears stung Naruto's eyes and he wanted to say, Don't go! But he stayed silent and just watched as Anko left, shutting the door quietly behind her._

_Thankfully she never saw how Naruto's fingers were crossed behind his back._

* * *

><p><em>Naruto had covered himself with a white hoodie and black shorts and carefully made his way into the tall streets of Konoha, making sure to lose the strange man with a white mask.<em>

_After a while the wide, busy streets became narrower and almost empty. Naruto had reached a deserted alley way. The same one he was almost assaulted in a month prior. His heart started beating faster and faster, making the redhead nervous but he steeled himself and shouted out._

_"__Hello?" His voice echoed as it hit the walls but there was no reply, "Is the man who told me not to die here?"_

_There was no answer._

_Tears brimmed in Naruto's eyes. "…_**_I don't want to be alone_**_…"_

_A faint grumble resounded throughout Naruto's mind, '__**You were never alone…**__' _

_Naruto blinked and looked around, "Where are you!?" He ran further into the alley, ignoring the darkness and horrid smell._

_'__**Inside…**__' _

_Naruto's vision went black._

* * *

><p>"…N-naruto-kun?" Naruto's eyes snapped open, instantly focusing on Hinata's lone form, she flinched at the sudden movement, "A-ah… um… Shi-shikamaru-kun is looking for you…"<p>

He nodded his head and sheathed his sword, his muscles felt warm and he realised he had jumped down into the training ground and was most likely going through the katas subconsciously. "…I'll be there…"

'**_What would your mother say if she knew you made a girl cry?_**' Kurama mocked.

'_Shut up.' _Naruto said back and sheathed his sword, he then walked up the stairs following Hinata.

Shikamaru had greeted him with a lazy wave and the three genin quickly set to work.

"So does anyone know how long we'll be here?" Shikamaru asked lazily, "Because this place is troublesome."

Naruto and Hinata shook their head. Naruto was contemplating if he should shunshin them out but decided against it. After all, his sister was scary when angry.

A dark chuckle resonated around the room and in a flurry of leaves Anko appeared in front of her genin.

"Good Morning!" She called out cheerfully, "I had quite a busy day yesterday. You see, I had to go report to the Hokage then tell your parents!"

The three genin were speechless.

"…Did… Did we pass?" Hinata asked shyly fidgeting with her hands.

"Pass? What are you talking about?" Hinata looked like she was about to pass out, "There wasn't a test in the first place!"

Hinata looked relieved, and Anko continued, "But~! Since you mentioned it, I'll give you one now!"

Anko started thinking and all Naruto could think was, '_Oh dear, here we go again.'_

"You guys can go defeat Byakko, without killing her of course!"

They all stared at her owlishly.

She looked at them strangely, "Y'know, Byakko!" She make big gestures with her hands, "Huge orange tiger? Really mean when she's PMSing?"

"..You want _us _to defeat an overgrown tiger… And I thought Byakko was a _white _tiger." Naruto murmured, "Did I hear you correctly?"

"Yes! After you defeat Byakko, I'll take you out of the forest, see ya!" She disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"That woman is troublesome. She goes at her own pace." Shikamaru complained.

"I know that feeling…" Naruto muttered softly. "How are we, _genin_, supposed to defeat a tiger?" Naruto was sure he could knock it out with a simple Shinra Tensei but he was scared to show his doujutsu to his teammates. What if they thought he was a freak?

'**_You are a freak, I mean who else hosts a being as powerful as me?_**' Kurama said arrogantly making Naruto sigh exhaustedly.

'_Just shut up will you?_'

"Shikamaru, got any plans?" Naruto asked, focusing on Shikamaru.

"…Tell me your strength and weaknesses." He asked, looking at Hinata and Naruto. Naruto would have opted to go after Hinata but knowing her shy personality he started.

"I am not good at Genjutsu and while I have lots of Chakra I don't know many techniques to use it… I am okay at Kenjutsu, Ninjutsu and Taijutsu. Fuinjutsu is a clan specialty and according to others I am pretty fast and am really stealthy." Naruto chose not to say anything about his doujutsu, Kurama or skill at assassination. He didn't trust them with that information yet.

"…I-I… I am not too good at m-my clan's t-taijutsu… I can use my Byakuran to search in long distances… "

Shikamaru nodded then squatted down and made a strange sign with his hands, like a circle with his thumbs pointing up. "Um… What are you doing?"

Naruto was ignored. A few seconds later Shikamaru asked, "I got a plan. Listen up."

* * *

><p>Naruto found Byakko with ease, her orange fur stood out in the thick forest. He quickly sent out the signal to his teammates, a flare of chakra.<p>

He stood at the ready with his brush and bottle of ink, hiding in a vantage point in the trees. Hinata came out first, drawing the tiger's attention to her, provoking the beast into following her.

She ran fast into a clearing wide clearing where the trap was laid. Shikamaru was hiding in the bushes and immediately leaped out when the tiger was in the right spot, "Kagamane no Jutsu!" He shouted and his shadow extended to the tiger who froze in its spot.

Naruto acted fast, he leaped down from the trees and onto the beast's back and stuck on a square sheet of paper. He instantly set out to work.

Drawing a familiar seal from memory, he could feel the creature struggle slightly as time passes, he knew Shikamaru was doing his best to hold the tiger in place. "DONE!" Naruto shouted and slammed his hand onto the seal and pumped in some chakra.

The seal glowed red and Naruto knew something was wrong. The light was usually a bright blue, but this was a violent red colour which could only mean one thing. The Nine-tail's chakra.

But it was too late. The sealing process had started and stopping it would both hurt Naruto and Byakko.

A huge poof of smoke obscured everyone's vision and Naruto could feel himself fall to the ground.

"Did… Did you seal it?" Hinata asked cautiously, her face was sweaty and red, making her short hair stick to her face.

Naruto whispered, "I… I don't know…" He activated his Rinnegan, and searched for the seal knowing that he would be able to find it in the smoke. Instead of a seal he found a living being as small as a cat. Looking closer the seal was on the cat's back in the exact place he had stuck it on Byakko.

He deactivated his Rinnegan and waited for the smoke to clear out, what surprised him was that the small creature was a miniature version of Byakko with the seal stuck on its back.

"…I might have made a mistake…" Naruto muttered, "I shrunk the cat…"

The miniature orange tiger stalked up to Naruto's prone form and started rubbing it's fur onto his face.

'**_STOP TOUCHING MY HOST YOU STUPID FELINE!_**' Kurama shouted at the cat, Naruto didn't understand why he did, it's not like it could hear him.

'_I am not Stupid, Fox.' _The cat hissed, Naruto blinked, he didn't know cat could talk, '_I choose you to be my master!_'

"How troublesome…" Shikamaru sighed, "Messed up the seal… Well you're taking care of it…"

"What?!" Naruto shouted loudly, unlike his usual soft voice.

'_Yes! You are the strong master I have been searching for!_' The cat purred.

"I… I a-agree with S-shikamaru-kun… Byakko-san seems to l-like you…" Hinata stuttered out, he face had returned to their usual pale colour.

"Brat! That was awesome!" Anko had appeared next to Naruto, shocking him so much he jumped up and nearly kicked her, "I give you permission!"

"B-but-!"

"No buts!" Anko cheered, "Great job guys! We'll meet outside training ground 44 tomorrow at 7:30! But for now, let's get outta here!" She latched onto the three teen's arms and teleported outside the forest.

"See ya tomorrow!" She waved to Shikamaru and Hinata who started leaving to go home.

Anko then looked at Naruto with a devilish grin, "Okay Little brother! Let's go shopping for mini Byakko!"

* * *

><p>FLASHBACK – SEVEN YEARS AGO<p>

* * *

><p><em>Suddenly Naruto was in a strange sewer. He was scared, it was like he teleported from the dark alley to a scentless, dark sewer.<em>

_"__**Come this way**__…" The same low voice from before said, Naruto followed it, he felt like he could trust this person._

_Naruto ended up in front of a huge gate with intricate patterns and a seal on the front just high enough to reach if Naruto reached up on his tippy-toes. Behind the gate was a huge menacing orange fox with nine swishing tails._

_"__**You're here Kit… Rip off the seal.**__" Naruto stood in shock before the beast and he whispered one word._

_"__Kyuubi." Now Naruto wasn't stupid, he knew that killing the Kyuubi was impossible. A being made of Chakra would just reform after several years. The only way to stop this would be sealing it into a real person. He just didn't expect that person to be him._

_"…__No…" Naruto said, "I refuse to rip off the seal."_

_The Kyuubi looked enraged at that sentence and he pushed himself against the gate, red tendrils seeped out from the tight gaps but they seemed to short to reach Naruto. "__**WHY YOU! I'll kill you damn it! CURSE YOU UZUMAKI!**__"_

_"__But… Thank you…" Naruto bowed his head low to the angered beast, afraid that if he had eye contact his resolve would be shattered, "You saved my life on that day."_

_The Kyuubi relaxed a bit at that sentence, "__**Hmph! If you die, I die, simple as that."**_

_"…__Sorry…" Naruto whispered. "Where am I?"_

_"…__Your mind." Naruto was shocked, his mind was a sewer. He then looked at the Kyuubi and felt pity._

_"__You live in the sewer? Can't I change that? It's my mind after all." Naruto thought hard about where foxes lived. In the forest, they say. _

_Naruto pictured a vast forest with huge trees and lots of wildlife. When he opened his eyes the exact scene he pictured had appeared._

_A large pine forest with tall trees bigger than the fox itself. The two were in a sunlit clearing with deer, rabbits and insects fluttering around. The Kyuubi was laying on top of a heap of head made to look like a bed and the seal was now stuck on a thick leather collar._

_"__**...I…**__" The Kyuubi seemed at a loss for words and Naruto hoped he wouldn't lash out at him in anger. "__**…Get out.**__"_

_Naruto's vision turned black once more._

* * *

><p><strong>Poll<strong>

**Hinata: IIIII I**

**Ino: IIIII**

**Fem! Haku: II**

**To Bankai777, I don't really watch Naurot, I read it, so I don't know most of the filler girls. There is a chance someone like Shion will appear though.**


	6. Demotion and Missions 降格とミッション

Chapter 6: Demotion and Missions

Naruto was taking his sweet time away from his sister, she had a date with her boyfriend and dashed off leaving the redhead with all the cat supplies they had bought. Thankfully he was a ninja with spare space in his storage seal and was able to store it all away.

He was currently sitting in a small clearing in a secluded forest that he only he knew studying a fuinjutsu scroll. It turned out he had used a Chakra Suppressor Seal on Byakko which shrunk the tiger in size.

A small white piece of paper was laid out before him with a bottle of ink and a brush. A few metres away Byakko was chasing an orange butterfly.

"…I got it…" Naruto muttered he then set out to work on the seal, he was trying to make a collar for Byakko and decided that having the seal that made her smaller on her back was a stupid idea.

A few minutes later he was done and he felt satisfied with his work, he put away the ink and brush then got out the collar he had bought with his sister. A black leather band with a small metal circle hanging off the end that said, 'BYAKKO' in large bold font. Naruto didn't bother with adding an address or phone number, Byakko was a smart kitty, she knew how to take care of herself.

The seal that was recently created was stuck onto the back of the tag. Naruto then called his pet over so he could put on the collar. '_Master! There is no need for one as noble as me to wear a tag like a pet! I am your partner!_' She hissed, baring her white teeth.

Naruto sighed. "It has the Chakra Suppressor Seal on it, meaning that you won't need that," He gestured to the seal on her back. Byakko seemed to think for a while.

'_Fine._' She relented and allowed Naruto to put on the tag and activate it. He then removed his first seal from her back and discarded it. '_Hm… it doesn't look bad…' _She looked down at her collar.

"…Good, just pump in some Chakra into the seal to transform back to your original size." Naruto stated, "That collar is for ninja pets of all sizes so it will automatically change size when you transform."

Suddenly, Byakko's hair stood on end and Naruto was immediately on alert, "…Who's there?" He called into the forest, the sun was slowly setting giving the atmosphere an ominous air to it.

A white haired chunin carrying a large scroll on his back appeared in front of Naruto, he clicked his tongue in irritation, "It's a genin." He then whipped out a kunai and pointed its shiny tip at Naruto, "Sorry, but because you've seen me you have to die."

The white haired ninja lunged at Naruto, who recognised the large scroll. The Scroll of Seals. That scroll was definitely forbidden to all except Kohona's fuinjutsu specialists and Hokage. Naruto had opened the scroll once under supervision but was only allowed to look at the fuinjutsu not the kinjutsu.

Before Naruto could do anything Byakko had transformed into her larger form and held the chunin in her mouth. The man flailed and dropped his weapon.

"…Good job Byakko." Naruto said, "I didn't even have to do anything…"

The man suddenly went limp in the tiger's mouth and had appeared to have lost consciousness. Naruto instructed Byakko to release him onto the ground. She did as told and dropped the ninja.

'_What an offending smell!' _Byakko simpered as she reverted to the cat size she was previously and licked he paw.

Naruto decided that the best course of action would be to deliver the man, whom he now recognised as Misuki-sensei from the academy. This man was most likely being searched for by many.

Though, turning him in as a genin would create many questions that Naruto truthfully did not want to answer so he changed clothes and donned his ANBU mask.

He left Byakko behind because of link that some would be able to make with him and his alter ego. And once he was all set, he teleported to the Hokage's office with the traitor.

* * *

><p>HOKAGE'S OFFICE<p>

* * *

><p>"-Mizuki must me captured at all costs!" He yelled at the two ANBU members standing in front of his desk.<p>

"…Do you mean him?" Naruto asked as he lifted up Mizuki's slumped body. The Hokage jumped slightly and then relaxed.

"Yes… but how did you…?"

Naruto cut him off, "I was just passing by the area and he attempted to kill me."

The Hokage nodded gravely, "This man had just stolen the Scroll of Seals." He turned to the other ANBU, "Give this man to Ibiki."

The ANBU members took Mizuki's limp body from Naruto and disappeared. The redhead refocused his attention to the Hokage. "All ANBU except Phoenix, dismissed!"

Naruto could feel the several chakra signals disappear from his radar and he visibly relaxed from his rigid posture. "…Have I completed my mission?" (**AN: I have changed the mission. I got rid of the watching Sasuke bit.**)

"…Yes." Naruto smiled, maybe there would be a way for him to be taken away from team 7. While he may not hate his teammates and sensei, being a normal Shinobi was annoying.

"Good job… Phoenix, take off your mask." The Hokage ordered. This time around Naruto was calmer and he removed his mask and black wig. "I am taking you off of ANBU."

Naruto gaped like a fish.

"The reason being," he continued, "is that I want you to become a proper shinobi."

The redhead could tell what the Hokage wanted. Naruto was a jinchuriki, the holder of the Kyuubi no Yoko. Jinchuriki never experienced a happy childhood, not even Naruto whose status was never revealed.

"…I…" Naruto looked into the Third Hokage's pleading eyes then whispered, "…fine." He took off his mask and set it onto the table in front of him.

Before he left he whispered so quietly no one could hear, "…The only thing I really know how to do properly is **kill**…"

* * *

><p><em>FLASHBACK – SEVEN YEARS AGO<em>

* * *

><p><em>Naruto woke up in the dark alley he remembered blacking out in and made a mad dash home. He was scared. Scared of the Kyuubi, scared of the alley. Scared of being alone.<em>

_Once he got back he wrapped himself in multiple blankets and closed all the windows making it completely pitch black inside._

_'…__I miss you nee-san…' He closed his eyes and silently cried, 'Maybe I will never be accepted…'_

* * *

><p><em>The next day Naruto had dedicated everything to finding out about the Kyuubi. Also about other things as well. He had used every bit of stealth he had possessed and broke into the Shinobi Library. No one noticed him though.<em>

_'…__The kyuubi is a monster made completely from chakra. The Fourth Hokage killed the Kyuubi on the night of October the tenth and sacrificed his life in the process…' Naruto read in his head, he was glad his sister taught him to read. 'Then why is it sealed in me?'_

_He returned the book onto the shelves and quickly moved out from the library. 'I need to ask Jiji(Old Man) about this…'_

* * *

><p>NEXT DAY – FLASHBACK END<p>

* * *

><p>Naruto was currently sitting at the small dinner table in his apartment with a bowl of cereal and a baby blue book with the large heading of, 'HOW TO TAKE CARE OF <em>YOUR <em>CAT!'

His usual slightly spiky red hair was messy and untamed as he slowly shovelled his breakfast into his mouth. He was wearing his usual shinobi outfit with a _slight _difference. Sticking out of his grey camouflage jacket was an orange coloured cat with tiger markings.

"…get it checked at the vets… Step 2…" Naruto read aloud in a monotone voice, Anko was sitting across from him with a bright smile on her face, "…make a feeding house for it… Step 3… Set out a litter box-"

Byakko hissed indignantly, '_I do __**not**__ need a litter box!_'

'**_The cat so does!_**' Kurama added in a growl, starting a new fight between the tiger and fox. But Naruto just ignored them and continued droning.

"…Check to see what pet likes… feed two to three times per day… Socialize your cat… Play with them every day… get them toys…" Naruto reached a certain point a grinned, "Get your pet… _nurtured!"_

Byakko started flailing in Naruto's jacket, its blue eyes moved wildly as it bared its teeth. '_I do not require sterilizing because I am a tiger. Not a cat-!_'

"…Just kidding…" He looked up to his adopted sister, "Do I really need to read this? I'm amazed you got this so fast, it's like you expected this to happen."

Anko smirked as she took her mouth away from her dango, "Baby brother, who do you think I am?"

Naruto wasn't really sure how to respond, crazy perhaps? But almost all the jonins and above were crazy. "…"

"Moving on… I'm going to say hello to my cute little genin!"

Naruto opened his mouth to reprimand her but she was gone in a swirl of leaves. Her upbeat attitude was certainly different from her solemn mood the day prior when Naruto told her about being demoted, "…Goes at her own pace, doesn't she?"

'_I like Master's sister. She knows spunk!_" Byakko purred. Naruto looked at Byakko with an inquisitive eye.

"…Why are you called Byakko if the legendary Byakko of the West is a _white _tiger?" Naruto blurted out, he slapped his hand over his mouth and turned a shade of red almost identical to his hair.

'_It's fine young master!' The tiger said, 'I am originally from the Yuki no Hi where it snows so in winter my cloak becomes a pure white._'

"…And what can you… um do? You claimed to want to be a nin-cat…" Naruto mumbled, "…I don't disagree, but…"

_'__...My kind used to be summons of the Yuki Clan.' _Byakko started, she squirmed out of Naruto's coat to sit on the table._ 'That was until the Bears decided to pull back into their sacred land but then invaded_ _Kakureyuki tsundora __(Hidden Snow Tundra __**AN: Used Google Translate so don't get angry if I'm wrong**__), my home__because of their lack of land and overwhelming population… while we are tigers we are not able to defend ourselves against natural predators… we were not prepared… Our summoning scroll was lost in the battle and the Kumo and Kiri ninjas hunted down the Yuki Clan forcing them to move…'_

Naruto could feel the sadness radiating off his pet and he scoped her into his arms had hugged her lovingly.

'_…__But hope is not lost!' _Byakko exclaimed as she puffed out her chest, '_The tiger summons are now spread throughout far and wide! There is supposed to be at least one tiger in each major hidden village hiding in a forest…'_

Naruto breathed out, "…Then I promise to help you find your kind, I swear it on my ninja way."

Byakko froze, then she nuzzled her fur onto Naruto's cheek, '_On our ninja way.'_

* * *

><p>Naruto arrived at training group 44 with Anko. Naruto saw that Shikamaru's slouch was worse than usual, he looked half-dead on his feet while Hinata looked red-eyed and tired. "…Didn't get enough sleep?"<p>

Both genin chorused out, "Yes…"

"Let's go Brats! Off to get our first mission!" Anko exclaimed as she gripped the her three students and body flickered to outside the Hokage's office.

She knocked on the door three times and entered when she heard a muffled, 'Come in!'

The Hokage was sitting at his table with stacks upon stacks of paperwork and Naruto couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He was once roped into helping and by the end he couldn't feel his hand anymore.

"Hokage-sama," Anko said respectfully, shocking Hinata and Shikamaru who didn't expect that tone of voice, "Team 7 requests for a mission."

The Hokage looked at another stack of paperwork, "Good timing, we have… Weeding, for Sawada-san, getting the groceries for Anayama-san, painting Yamamoto-san's fence… and catching the Damiyo's cat." With every request Naruto's mood sunk lower and lower, they weren't exactly missions. More like errands.

"We'll take the last one!" Anko chirped. The Hokage chuckled as though it was an inside joke and handed Anko a form, "Report to me once you have caught her."

Naruto had a bad feeling in his gut. But seriously. How bad could a cat be?

* * *

><p>TIME SKIP – THREE HOURS<p>

* * *

><p>It took Team 7 three hours to catch the stupid cat Tora. THREE HOURS. They had caught it multiple times but coupled with Shikamaru's laziness and the cat's feistiness it had gotten away half a dozen times.<p>

The genin had only managed to deliver it successfully to the Hokage' Office when Byakko used her 'Alpha Female' powers to get Tora–who was apparently a Beta Male–to stop squirming.

Though Naruto felt sorry for Tora sewing him being crushed to death by the damiyo's fat wife. If he were in the same position he would most likely had done the same. He actually did once. When Anko tried to dress him up in her old clothes.

Thankfully there were no other complications and Team 7 finished two more D-Rank Missions before the end of the day. Naruto was desperate to finish the minimum amount of D-rank missions before getting a C-rank, his body yearned to do something thrilling and he had missed the thrill that assassinations gave him.

Naruto knew that moping about his demotion wasn't really helping his mood. He loved ANBU despite the gore and violence. It served as an outlet for his raging emotions and frustrations.

A way to forget the death of _him_.

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto Poll <strong>

**Hinata: IIIII II**

**Ino: IIIII**

**Fem! Haku: IIII**

**Ten-Ten: I**

**Temari: I**

**Um... This poll will be ending uh... Next chapter because of Haku's evolvement. So can you vote if Haku will be a girl or a boy? It doesn't really matter which. I have already counted kitsuneswiftpaw, skg1991, Judgment of the Arbiter and gvargas132's votes for Fem! Haku X Naruto.**

**Haku Gender Poll**

**Female: IIII**

**Male: II**


	7. C-Rank Cランク

Chapter 7: C-Rank

* * *

><p>FLASHBACK – Seven Years Ago<p>

* * *

><p><em>"<em>_Hokage-sama, why is the Kyuubi sealed in me?" The Hokage sputtered and hit his paperwork by accident._

_"__W-Where did you hear that?!" He yelled and Naruto's purple ringed eyes started tearing up out of fear. "I'm sorry! Don't Cry!" He started panicking rushing to sooth the upset child who started wailing, "I'll do whatever you want so don't cry!"_

_Naruto stared at him, his sobbing had stopped and he grinned, his eyes devoid of tears, "That means you'll answer my question?" _

_The Hokage looked stunned. Then he threw his head back and laughed, "You're just like your mother…" He whispered and Naruto's blood froze._

_"__MY MOTHER!? DID YOU KNOW MY MOTHER?" Naruto asked frantically. He was an orphan from the Kyuubi attack, the Hokage stating that he knew his mother must have meant his mother was important._

_"…__Yes… I did…" Naruto noticed the use of past tense and looked down, she really was dead._

_"…__Can… Can I know her name?" Naruto asked hesitantly, looking straight into the Hokage's eyes unwaveringly. The older man looked distraught for a minute the relented, "…Her name was Uzumaki Kushina."_

_"__U-uzumaki Kushina…" Naruto repeated, "…D-do you have a-any items of her's? Pi-pictures? Clothing?" He knew he was most likely asking too much, the leader of a whole village wouldn't be keeping the possessions of a random civilian._

_The Hokage moved back to his desk, ignoring the paperwork that was roughly sent to the ground. "I do… Uzumaki Kushina was one of the best shinobi Kohona had to offer. An S-class Ninja wanted by Kumo, Iwa and Kiri under the alias of the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero._

_Naruto snickered softly and the Third smiled and retrieved some things from a drawer in his desk, "These were from your mother and I was planning to give them to you when you became an adult." _

_He held five items in his old hands, three scrolls–one yellow, green and one blue–a red katana sheathed in a black scabbard with red flames that was just a head shorter than Naruto and a framed picture of a smiling woman with flaming red hair._

_"…__Is this…?" Naruto asked, feeling real tears well up. He took the items tenderly as if it was fragile glass. _

_"__Yes… Your mother… Kushina…" The Hokage took out a familiar wooden pipe and started to smoke, "She… was the previous… container of the Kyuubi… a human sacrifice–a jinchuriki like you." _

_"__L-like me?" Naruto whispered, "Is that why I am the Jinchuriki? Because we're related?"_

_The Hokage was silent, "…Not necessarily. Most think that people related to the kage are stronger. But… yes… she died protecting you from the Kyuubi."_

_"…__Thank you…" Naruto whispered, "Thank you…"_

'I'll make you proud, mother!'

* * *

><p>FLASHBACK -END<p>

* * *

><p>It had been a week since Naruto and his team had started doing missions and Naruto could say seriously, '<em>Being a Genin is Hell on Earth<em>.' He had 'learned' several things with his sister, tree-climbing, water-climbing, chakra nature–Naruto was surprised to find out he had all five–and learnt a few jutsu for their type.

Naruto was excited to learn some ninjutsu, he primarily focused on Bukijutsu (Weapon Techniques) so he was curious to find out how good he was at elemental ninjutsu. One thing really astonished him though, he seemed to be able to learn them much faster than his teammates. Hinata struggled to grasp water jutsu and Shikamaru didn't bother trying any of the fire jutsu assigned.

But both managed to do achieve doing an elemental jutsu by the end of the day. Naruto on the other hand had mastered _five. _One for each nature type.

Though Anko had promised her students that they would take on a C-rank and Naruto believed her. That's why Team 7 was making their way south of Kohona to Wave Country. Apparently Team 8 had encountered difficulties. Which was fine by him, it just mean that he was able to vent his frustrations on something other than training.

That's how he wound up standing in front of the southern Konoha gates with his team plus Byakko.

"Ok team!" Anko shouted as she started marching away, "Let's go!" Naruto really missed ANBU. It was at least less annoying that being with his sister. Not that he hated her, he loved her, just not he sadistic attitude.

They started following their teacher as she cheerfully skipped to the Land of Waves.

* * *

><p>TIMESKIP – LAND OF WAVES<p>

* * *

><p>Naruto was disgusted by the state of the country. Wave was such a desolate place, they were poor and disconnected from the rest of the world. Once they approached wave by boat they had to row to shore because it was 'illegal,' Naruto and his team had been assaulted three times and beggars would approach them every five minutes.<p>

From what he knew, the economy of wave was dependant on a bridge builder named Tazuna who was making a bridge to connect Wave Country with the Fire Country. Team 8 was dispatched to protect him on his journey back home but they were attacked by Kiri's Demon Brothers and Zabuza Momochi.

Naruto knew why his team was ordered to go there, because he used to be ANBU. Because of that fact he supposed it would be safer.

After a long journey listening to Shikamaru's complaints about it being '_So troublesome' _and Anko's craving for dango, it was a pleasant trip. The redhead and co. finally stopped at a normal-looking house that look far more well off that any of its fellow building.

Anko stopped and grinned at the three Genin, "Well, here we are!" She turned to the door and knocked three times. A muffled shout of, '_I'm coming!_' was heard along with soft footsteps.

The door swung open, revealing a pretty woman with long navy hair that framed her face. She wore a light pink shirt accented with red and a long blue skirt. He dark onyx eyes widened with recognition as they zeroed onto Anko's forehead protector.

"Are… Are you Konoha-nin?" She asked hesitantly. Naruto nodded and his teammates copied. "…I need proof." She said and Naruto couldn't help but like her, she knew when to be wary.

"Here," Anko took out a green scroll and showed it to the woman, "This is the Hokage's seal, it can't be faked."

The woman seemed to accept that and she let team 7 into the house, "My name is Tsunami, your co-workers, Kakashi-san, Kiba-kun, Sakura-kun and Sasuke-kun, are already here."

True to her word, Kiba plus Akamaru, Sakura and Sasuke were sitting at a table, each with a different expression, happiness, determination and gloominess.

"Oh hey!" Kiba waved to team 7 and Akamaru yipped as a greeting, "Girly!"

Naruto's eyebrow twitched, a dark aura seeped out from him and he had to fight to not let Kurama's dark Chakra seep out, "Hello, bitch." Naruto shot back, baring his fanged canines.

Byakko happened to pop out of the front of Naruto's jacket and started to growl at Akamaru who was wagging his tail happily, '_How dare you be wary of me dog?! I am an ally!'_

"A cat!" Kiba yelped and he grabbed Akamaru, "Keep that feline away from Akamaru!"

Naruto grinned in a foxy way and grabbed Byakko, ignoring her hissing he shoved her closer to Kiba, who jumped out of his chair, "Here you just _love _cats. Don't you?"

"Naruto!" Anko shouted, "We don't have time for games right now," Naruto felt ashamed of himself, but Kiba was the only person able to annoy him that much.

"…Sorry sensei." Naruto muttered, shoving Byakko back into his coat, he then promptly shut up.

"So where is my boyfriend?!" Anko asked and everyone except Naruto was staring at her blankly. "Ya'know, gravity defying hair, weird forehead protector, always carrying that _damn _orange book!"

"Do you mean Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, "He is in the first room down the hall."

Anko thanked her and happily skipped away, after telling her team to practice on the things they learnt.

"…Why are you here?" Sasuke's moody voice asked, he glared at Naruto and his teammates. Naruto couldn't help but choke back a small whimper when he looked at his onyx eyes. They reminded him so much of _him_.

"How troublesome," Shikamaru spoke for the first time, "We're reinforcements from the Hokage on the deal that Konoha has 2% of Wave's income when they're no longer in poverty."

Sasuke seemed to accept that and he went back to his quiet brooding. "Hey, where is this Tazuna person?" Naruto asked, he was planning on helping the bridge construction. He had was planning to leave some Kage Bunshin to speed up the process.

"Here, I'll go with you." Sakura offered, "Kakashi-sensei said I should protect him while the other they're practicing."

* * *

><p>TIMESKIP – UNFINISHED BRIDGE<p>

* * *

><p>"Hey… Tanzuna!" A voice called through the light mist, while there were faint silhouettes it was hard to pick out any details. Naruto activated his Rinnegan to see who was there. Two middle aged men, one was crouched down the other was walking closer to the other.<p>

"Hm? What is it Giichi?" The one Naruto assumed was Tazuna replied.

"I've been doing a lot of think recently and…" The other man said, "Can I stop working on the bridge?"

Tanzuna jumped up and started shouting, "Why is that?! This is so sudden! Not you too!" Naruto assumed that he used to have more workers. He couldn't sense another Chakra signals in five kilometres anyway.

"Tazuna, we've been close for a long time now. I want to help you but if we continue this Gato might find out and we'll all be killed!"

Naruto recognised the name, Gato. Gato was the name of a rich shipping company, the Gato Company. The man himself was the founder but it didn't fit in with the content. Though Naruto had heard rumours that Gato was really a drug dealer but the rumours stayed rumours.

"So why don't we quit now?" The other man finished.

There was a pregnant pause, then Naruto heard Tazuna say, "I can't do that. This brigde is our bridge. This is the bridge we started building together believing it would bring more resources into our poor country."

"BUT IF WE LOSE OUR LIFES!?" The other man tried arguing but Tazuna's voice was final.

"It's already noon, let's stop for today. Giichi, you don't have to come tomorrow." Giichi said nothing and he started to walk away from Tanuza past Naruto and Sakura.

"Tazuna-san!" Sakura called out, Naruto could tell she had a hard time seeing through the mist. So he decided to try out one of his new jutsu.

"Fuuton: Reppushou. (Wind Release: Wind Gale)" Naruto called out and he overloaded the technique, making the C-rank jutsu become A-rank. It blew the mist away, revealing an old man wearing a yellow construction hat.

"Pink! And…" He looked at Naruto with judging eyes, "Who're you kid?"

"I am Uzumaki Naruto, I am reinforcement from Konoha." Naruto replied and Byakko meowed indignantly, her blue eyes glared at him.

'_What about me!?_'

"And this is Byakko." Naruto added, pointing at the striped orange cat in his jacket.

"Cat-boy, then." Tazuna said, "Don't get along with dog-boy?" Naruto didn't say anything but he knew how true that statement was.

* * *

><p>TIMESKIP – NEXT DAY<p>

* * *

><p>Naruto had sent out multiple shadow clones to aid Tazuna with his construction. He then found himself bored out of his mind as Anko wasn't going to teach anyone anything until Kakashi-nii got better.<p>

He left Byakko to go explore the city and told her to meet him at a certain clearing where he decided to take a nap, not caring about the birds that settled on his prone body. He remembered about the story of 'Wave's Hero' Kaiza and Inari. It was sad how some humans only thought about themselves.

A sudden wave of bloodlust hit Naruto and he activated his Rinnegan with his eyes still closed, a person, he wasn't sure if male or female was reaching down onto him, aiming for his neck.

He tensed his muscles, ready to strike if the person tried. Instead he was tapped lightly on the shoulder, "You'll catch a cold sleeping in a place like this."

He opened his eyes gently and saw a beautiful girl with flowing black hair and large chocolate brown eyes she wore a pink, sleeveless kimono, with red edges. It was decorated with small dark swirls and reached her ankles. Around her thin waist was a simple white sash tied in a bow, and she also wore a dark-coloured choker around her neck.

Naruto blushed deep red underneath his hood, "Who… who are you?"

"My name is Haku." She gave him a dazzling smile, and Naruto thought her voice sounded like chiming bells, "I'm searching for medicine to cure a friend of mine."

"My name is Naruto. What herb are you looking for?" Naruto asked curiously, he knew some plants, his sister had taught his some before she joined the Intel and Torture Department.

"…Wave's Bellflower." She whispered.

Naruto felt the unexplainable urge to please her so he said, "I remember seeing some other there." He stood up and started walking deeper into the forest until he saw a bright blue flower. "Is this the plant you want?"

Haku nodded, "Thank you, my friend will be very pleased." She looked at Naruto's neck and saw his forehead protector dangling innocently, "…Are… you a ninja?"

Naruto nodded and Haku continued, "That's incredible… Naruto-kun… Do you have someone important to you?"

Naruto's mind immediately went to Anko, Kakashi, the Third Hokage, his mother. _Him_.

"When a person has…" Haku started softly, "…something to protect. That is when they truly can become strong…"

"…I… I understand…" Naruto said, he thought about all the times spent with his family, the good and the bad. "I understand that very well."

"I truly believe you will become strong." Haku smiled, "That is the true meaning of strength."

The dark haired girl then picked up a basket containing the herbs they had collected, "I hope we can meet again…"

"…I hope we can as well…"

* * *

><p>TIMESKIP - NIGHT<p>

* * *

><p>That night Naruto felt strange, his heart felt constricted and he kept thinking back to Haku. Her bright smile.<p>

'_…__Something must be wrong with me… Shinobi rule '#25 A Shinobi must never show emotion… I think it's too late for that…'_

"I think I'm in love with Haku…"

* * *

><p><em>FLASHBACK – SEVEN YEARS<em>

* * *

><p><em>Naruto had spent the rest of the week trying to learn from the scrolls his mother left him. So far he could only do one. The blue scroll titled 'Fuinjutsu.' The yellow scroll would not open and the green scroll was about kenjutsu which he was too small for. (He read that it may stunt his growth)<em>

_While Naruto couldn't wait for his sister to come back home her also didn't want her to come back. If she did she may not want him to study the scrolls, or at least not without her breathing down his back._

_That's why he was in a deserted clearing in a random forest, with the blue scroll open, reading the text, 'The shinobi from __Uzushiogakure__ in the __Land of Whirlpools__ were specialists in the art of fūinjutsu, to the point that their nation was eventually destroyed due to the fear others had of these techniques. Seals are usually numbered, an imbalance is created when an odd-numbered seal is placed on top of an even-numbered seal and vice-'_

_"__Hey kid!" Naruto flung backwards, seeing a fast swirl of leaves and a dark haired youth standing in front of him. "What are you doing here by yourself?"_

_He wore a Konoha forehead protector, identifying him as a ninja. He wore a black high collared shirt and black pants and a sword strapped on his back. He looked a lot like an Uchiha member but he was smiling__–__brightly._

_"__Hey?!" He waved a hand in front of Naruto's face, "Hey little girl are you alright?"_

_"__I'm not a girl!" Naruto snapped out of his trance, "I am 100% male!"_

_"__Now, now," He moved his hands in a placating manner, "It's pretty hard to tell!"_

_Naruto grunted and rolled up his scroll, "Leave me alone, I was here first!" He stuck his tongue out childishly._

_"__Now don't be like that!" The dark haired boy said, "I'm Shisui! Uchiha Shisui!"_

_Naruto couldn't believe he was actually right, though from what he knew, Uchiha's had 'sticks up their asses.'_

_"__What's your name?"_

_"…__Naruto…"_

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto Poll <strong>

**Hinata: IIIII III _FIRST_**

**Ino: IIIII II _SECOND_**

**Fem! Haku: IIIII I _THIRD_**

**Ten-Ten: I**

**Temari: I**

**Yeah, so Hinata won... But don't worry Ino and Fem! Haku lovers! I will still add a whole bunch of 'em into the story!**

**Haku Gender Poll**

**Female: IIIII III**

**Male: IIIII I**

**Female Haku won but I shall add an Omake at the end of Wave arc for a male Haku because I have to admit that is really funny. If I forget someone please remind me!**


	8. Haku 白

Chapter 8: Haku

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><p>The following day after meeting Haku, Naruto had left some shadow clones with Tazuna to learn and help with the bridge building while he went out to find Haku. He just couldn't forget her. Every time he closed his eyes he saw her smiling face.<p>

He had somehow wondered to the same clearing he had met her the day before, leaving Byakko behind to her own devices once again.

"…Naruto-san?" A soft chiming voice aid and Naruto's eyes locked with chocolate brown. "T-those eyes! A Kekkai Genkai!"

Naruto cursed and lifted up his hood quickly, he didn't want to freak her out. She was most likely a simple civilian, and he had no idea where she came from, she might have originated from the Bloody Mist, where the Kekkai Genkai war was still going on. He wished he knew how to hide them, it was annoying having to always cover them up instead of being able to fully deactivate his eyes making them return to his normal blue.

"…It's alright…" She whispered, her eyes softened. "I'm just like you…"

Purple ringed eyes widened as a ball of ice materialized in Haku's hand, she smiled sadly, "I'm just like you… I have an elemental Kekkai Genkai…"

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><p>TIMESKIP - NIGHT<p>

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><p>Naruto was silent during dinner and couldn't help but feel rather selfish. While most of the population of Wave was dying he was sitting down and eating what meagre foods they owned. That and they were feeling Byakko who was strong enough to hunt for her own food.<p>

A hard stare from Tsunami's son, Inari was directed to the redhead who after a few minutes sighed and looked up to him, "What do you want?"

The boy stood up, revealing his teary face from underneath his striped hat, "Why do you people try so hard?! No matter what you do you're no match for Gato's men!"

Naruto felt his patience shorten and he had the sudden urge to hit the kid on his head a few times. Maybe it would fix his stupid thinking.

"No matter what you claim, how hard you work… When facing the strong, the weak only end up getting killed!"

Naruto clenched his fist, he knew how unfair the world was. He had experienced it first hand as a child, "…It doesn't matter. I am not like you. I am a Ninja." The jinchuriki said stiffly.

"I'd hate to be like you! You don't know anything about this country yet you people are being so nosy!" Inari was outright screaming and from the corner of Naruto's eyes he could see Tsunami's pale face becoming paler. "What the hell do you know about me!? I'm different from you foreigners! Always happy and cheerful. You people don't know how hard life can be!"

Naruto snapped, he slowly rose from his chair and glared with his purple-ringed eyes, dark waves of Kurama's chakra was pulsing around him, scaring everyone else.

'**_Calm down! I can't stop the chakra because of the stupid seal!_**' Kurama hissed in Naruto's mind and Naruto dully noted he was awake.

"So just because you think your life is bad you can pose as the star of a tragedy and mope around all day?" His voice was no louder than a whisper, Inari flinched away, "So you think that just because we aren't from here we don't understand what pain is?! Not everyone has perfect lives like you think, brat! So you can just keep crying forever acting like a little drama queen because there are people who are worse off than you!"

"Naruto!" Anko barked out, directing the ninja's attention away from the crying boy, "That's enough!" Despite the steeled look in her eyes, Naruto saw the hurt and sadness just moments from erupting.

He clicked his tongue and turned away, "Whatever." Naruto stalked away, he didn't feel in the mood for being social, "Come on Byakko."

The tiger mewed in response and followed her master away into the small halls.

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><p><em>FLASHBACK – SEVEN YEARS<em>

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><p><em>"<em>_Hey Naru-chan! What're you doing here?" An annoying and joyful voice chimed, startling Naruto and making his once neat handwriting messy._

_"__Stop calling me that." Naruto said, both of his ringed eyed focused onto Shisui's black ones. "And you messed it up." Small hands held onto a wrecked piece of paper and shoved it into the older boy's face._

_"__Ehhhh?" Shisui waved his hand dismissively in the air, "Doesn't matter."_

_Naruto could feel his patience begin to thin and he clicked his tongue, "Go away." He picked up his stuff and started marching further into the dense forest._

_A sudden Shisui appeared in front of the redhead which stopped him and Shisui appeared from the smoke with a pout, "Don't be so rude! You can't just leave me without saying goodbye!"_

_"__H-how did you do that!?" Naruto exclaimed with wide eyes, while he had seen others do the same technique no one was either as fast or as stealthy as the Uchiha._

_"__Heh?" A grin spread across the dark haired boy's face, "Do you wanna learn?"_

_Naruto's face heated up and he crossed his hands over his chest, "W-who'd wanna learn from a weirdo like you?" _

_A light chuckle was heard from Shisui, "Don't be so Tsundere! I'll teach you! Now, call me Shisui-sensei!"_

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><p>FLASHBACK - END<p>

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><p>Kakashi sighed as he watched both Naruto and Inari stalk off. Although he may have startled both his team and Naruto's own with his explosive, dark chakra.<p>

He opted to go follow Inari instead of Naruto, knowing that the latter would probably be in a bad mood until the next day.

Inari was sitting on the side of the wooden hunt, his feet were dangling just above the calm ocean waters staring at the crescent moon's bright reflection. "Can I join you?"

Inari's face looked up to Kakashi and he didn't say anything so took a seat by his side, "Naruto didn't mean any harm by what he said sometimes he just doesn't think things through."

Inari was still silent so Kakashi continued to talk. "Tazuna told us about your dad… Like you, Naruto grew up without a father, so did Anko."

"Actually he never met his parents and never had any friends his age. Truth is… his past was just as bad as or maybe worse than your own…"

Kakashi felt nostalgia rush over him, he remembered the countless amount of times he had seen Naruto by himself but was not allowed to interfere. Not until they met personally anyway. "But… I have never seen him cry or complain…"

'_At least not in front of me…'_ Kakashi added wryly in his mind.

"He just was probably sick and tired of crying all the time… He knows what it means to be strong… Just like your father…"

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><p>Naruto had visited the small forest clearing for the next five days and always met Haku there, they talked and became friends. Learnt things about each other and their similarities.<p>

"My sister adopted me when I was young but she was always discriminated against for something she didn't have control of." Naruto explained to the girl, "I eventually got better when she started dating her boyfriend."

"I know what you mean. My friend was hated from where he came from so he ran away. On his journey he found me after my parents had died." Haku said, nodding her head, "I'm really thankful to him."

Naruto grinned and decided if he ever met Haku's friend he would thank him. He looked at the sky and noticed it was a dusty orange hue. "I need to be going now… I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked, standing up and dusting off imaginary dirt.

"…Naruto-kun… I don't think I can come here anymore…" Haku said, a dejected look passed through her dark eyes.

Naruto felt his heart break when he saw her look that way, "…why?"

"My friend is… almost fully recovered and he wishes to travel to Kiri once we have tied any loose ends we have left." A salty scent hit Naruto's nose and he knew that Haku was crying, "I… I know that we just met but… you have become one of my precious people…"

She stood up and looked at him under his hood, she grabbed the front of his jacket and pulled him closer to her, smashing their lips together.

Naruto's brain shut down. The only thing he could think of were Haku's soft lips pressing against his own.

"Goodbye…" She ran away into the forest, leaving no sign she was ever there.

"W-wait! Haku!" Naruto called into the trees, he activated his Rinnegan to see if she was still there but he could not find any signal of human life. "Haku…"

An orange and black cat rubbed against Naruto's leg, '_Did your feline reject your courting master?_' She asked innocently.

"…I don't know…" Naruto felt something warm slide against his cheeks, "I don't know…"

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><p>TIMESKIP - NEXT DAY<p>

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><p>A harsh sunlight awakened Naruto from what could be considered as the best sleep in ages, he sat up and looked bleakly at his tiger's lazing form. "Good *Yawn* Morning… Byakko… What's the time?"<p>

'_…__Around 10:00 master, you slept in rather late.' _Byakko commented, licking her fur.

"…10…" Naruto's eyes widened and he yelled, "Why didn't you wake me up!?" He dashed out to get ready, it was nearly impossible for him to sleep in.

'_I tried, but you just shook me off and muttered, 'Not now Haku…'' _Naruto blushed at that statement, '_You must really love her. Too bad you were rejected.'_

"Sh-shut up!" Naruto said in a flustered manner, his cat really annoyed him sometimes, "Let's go." He said, already ready in his standard ninja gear.

"The others must be at the Bridge, right?" He mused to himself, he picked up Byakko and shoved her into the front of his jacket, earning a smack in the face with an orange tail.

"Shunshin no Jutsu." Naruto exclaimed after doing the tiger seal, he focused on Wave's unfinished bridge and felt his vision warping.

Instead of the brown walls he was facing earlier, Naruto stared into a white porcelain mask of a mist hunter ninja.

Long brown hair framed the boy's masked face and the back was tied into a bun, covered by a white bun holder. Naruto couldn't help but feel he had met that person.

"N-Naruto-kun!"

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><p><strong>END!<strong>

**Here are some replies to Reviews:**

**TheKitsuneSage9: Sorry, but extending the poll would be unfair on others since they had already put forth their votes.**

**Cormin12: I'm sorry, I'm really confusing. Naruto can deactivate his eyes but not fully, not like how Sasuke can switch from Sharingan to his normal eyes. He can only turn them on and off but they are always present. To clear up some confusion with the Rinnegan I will tell you what Naruto can do with it so far.**

**RINNEGAN**

**Paths: Deva**

**Moves: Shinra Tensei, Bansho Ten'in**

**If you ask 'Why so little?!' It is simply because Naruto didn't think there was anymore else to it. Therefore, Jiraya will teach him!**

**Other Abilities: Naruto can see Chakra Paths and pressure points, along with being able to sense Chakra from long distances and perfect Chakra control.**

**Moving on, I have to write the Omake next time because I am busy. Actually, I have to return my stupid school laptop to the school, meaning I have to write my fanfictions on the computer downstairs in the study. URG! My school laptop is crappy! And we don't get a damn choice in whenever we receive it or not!**


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